There's Always a Light
by TonyDTonyD
Summary: Maureen is being bullied by a guy at school and must repay him for something she doesn't want Elliot to know...chapter six is up: sorry bout the wait guys. One chapter 2 go.
1. Chapter 1

Monday Evening-

"So, how was everybody's day?" Elliot asked his family as they sat around the dinner table ready to eat.

"Fine," said everyone except Maureen, who stayed silent.

"Maureen?" asked Kathy.

"Uhh…fine, I guess."

"Well, what happened?" Elliot asked.

"Nothing," she said.

Elliot gave her the look he always gave her when she was hiding something, the look that told her he knew something was wrong and that he would be listening if she needed to talk.

The truth was, Maureen was having a terrible time at school. Some guy in her grade was always picking on her, and only her.

Dean Williamson was the rebellious type who went completely against what everybody said and did. He hung out with other rebels and all were avoided as much as possible at school but recently, Dean had been singling out Maureen as his newest target.

Maureen wasn't scared of Dean -she wasn't afraid to stand up to him- but that seemed to make him more than willing to dominate her. Maureen was his new "project".

Still, she hated him focusing exclusively on her. She wanted him to leave her alone.

"Nothing, Dad," she said again. "It was just a totally normal school day." She did her best to smile up at him so he would forget it.

Tuesday Morning-

"Hey!" someone yelled. Maureen turned around to see what was happening. To her surprise it was Dean, striding across the school grounds towards her. She wondered what she could have done this time.

"Your dad's a cop!" he said, completely out of the blue.

"And?" Maureen asked. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yeah, maybe I do! He arrested my older bro! Last year!"

Maureen had no idea that had happened but wasn't surprised-she was certain Dean's older "bro" had an attitude just like him and a criminal record to match.

"Well, that's your brother's problem, not mine, and it's not my dad's problem either," she retorted. She began to walk off, sick to death of all the crap she was getting, but in a sudden movement, Dean grabbed her and pulled his fist back, ready to strike. A fraction of a second later, his fist connected with her face as if driven by a magnetic force. Maureen stumbled for just a second, but quickly retaliated. She summoned up all of her energy and got him in the stomach.

Suddenly, Maureen realised what she'd just done. What if her parents found out she had hit someone? Even if it was Dean, who was moaning on the ground in pain. She was suddenly hit with a burst of paranoia- so what if some guy was constantly irritating her? It wasn't like it would go on forever…

Maureen felt terribly guilty for what she had done. She wondered what she should do…but Dean was getting up. She thought he would hit her again as payback, but instead he just walked off, after glaring at her for what seemed like five minutes.

She suddenly had an urge to throw up her breakfast. She was worried about her loss of control- what if she got mad and hurt someone else?

Just then, the bell rang, signalling the start of school. Maureen, shaking, picked up her bag from the ground and headed for homeroom.

Tuesday Afternoon-

Maureen was relieved when the final bell rang. Her fingernails sore from biting them from anxiety, she walked out of school without saying goodbye to any of her friends and began to head home.

"Oi!" a very familiar voice called out to her. It of course belonged to Dean.

"So," he said as he sauntered up to her. "Wonder what your dad would say if he knew you'd been using your little girl knuckles to try and beat me up, huh?"

"Dean- I…I didn't mean to…" she began awkwardly.

"Yeah, you try and apologise now," said Dean. "But you can't turn back time. I know what you did and perhaps I may…let it slip…" his face was close to hers now, so close she could smell his putrid breath, "_accidentally_ to a certain detective who goes by the name of Stabler."

"Dean!"

"Unless of course you make it up to me," he added casually, as if the thought had just occurred to him. "Then your dad will never know."

Maureen thought fast. Dean was playing games to get back at her.But if she didn't do a couple of things for him, he was sure to tell her dad.She didn't want him involved; she didn't want him to know. All she had to do was a few favours and the whole thing would probably blow over.

"Fine," Maureen said. "What do you want me to do?"


	2. Chapter 2

Tuesday night-

It was one o'clock. Maureen decided it was time to go. She crept downstairs without turning on any lights, and silently opened the front door. The cool night's air made her shiver…or perhaps she shivered because she was scared?

Dean told her what she was going to do that night. Of course Maureen didn't want to do such a horrible thing, but she felt she had no choice…

Out of nowhere, a car came cruising silently down the deserted street. A window rolled down and Dean's face appeared.

"Get in," he said, and Maureen, shaking from head to toe, not even knowing if this was her best option, got in.

Wednesday Morning-

Maureen woke a few hours later groggy and tired. She hadn't gotten back home until two-thirty, plus the weight from all the Dean-related issues in her life were draining her now more than ever.

Things only got worse when she got to school. A crowd of students and teachers had gathered around the sport shed where all the equipment gets kept.

"Who in their right mind would do such a thing?" a girl with a blonde ponytail was saying to her friend.

"I know!" she exclaimed. "What a mess."

The mess was the shed- all of the windows were smashed; graffiti covered every inch of the outside walls; and toilet paper was hanging loosely around the nearby bushes and over the former windows, which now represented dark, square holes cut into a box.

Maureen wasn't surprised though- she had seen the shed like this before.

She was the one who had made it look like that.

During the school day, the principal, Mr Priestly, called an assembly to discuss the vandalism. At one point, Dean, who was sitting two rows in front of Maureen, caught her eye. He grinned at her. It was an evil, sickening grin and she didn't like it. She looked away.

"…And if anyone knows anything about this, please see your classroom teacher. Thankyou." Mr Priestly finished up, and dismissed the school.

_Well, _Maureen thought, _it's all over. Dean will stop blackmailing me now- he has to._

She could now put this whole thing behind her- and the best part was, her dad would never know she hit someone. When school finished for the day, Maureen decided to celebrate. She opened her locker, wondering where to go, when a small piece of white notebook paper fell out. She picked it up and unfolded it. It was from Dean.

_He has got to be kidding,_ she thought. The note outlined her next job to do.

No way. There was no way in hell she could do something like that.


	3. Chapter 3

Wednesday Night-

_Ring-ring._

"I"LL GET IT!" yelled Dickie, to no one in particular. A few seconds later he shouted, "MAUREEN! PHONE!"

"DICKIE, I'M TRYING TO DO MY HOMEWORK!" Kathleen screamed from another room in the house. "BE QUIET!"

Maureen took the phone from Dickie. "Hello?"

"Maureen," said a familiar voice. "Did you get your next instructions?"

"Dean, I will not do something as awful as that!" Maureen whispered loudly into the phone.

"Who is it?" asked Dickie, dancing around his oldest sister. "Your_ boy_friend?"

"Dickie," hissed Maureen. "Go away! This is private." He ran off.

"Do you want your _daddy _to find out about what you did?" Dean asked.

"I will not play your little games anymore!" Maureen said, trying not to talk too loudly.

"Well I guess I better tell your dad then…"

"No!" she said quickly. "I didn't mean to do that to you, I swear! Is there something else I can do instead?"

But the phone went dead. Dean had hung up.

Maureen put the phone back in its cradle and stood for a moment trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Maureen," someone said behind her. She turned around. It was Elliot.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked quietly.

"No one," she answered quickly. "I-I mean, uhh…just a friend."

"Sounded pretty tense," he said, and Maureen wondered how much he had heard.

"What did you not mean to do?" he asked her, walking a few steps closer.

"N-nothing, Dad, nothing," said Maureen. _Oh God. What if he finds out right now that I punched someone?_ She thought. _I can't let that happen!_

"I have to go finish my homework," she said hastily, and made for the stairs.

"Wait a second," said Elliot, putting an arm out to stop her. "What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing, Dad," Maureen tried to look confused. "Nothing's wrong at all."

"Who's this friend you were talking to?"

"Just…someone from school, that's all!"

"Okay," Elliot said softly. He gave her a warm, reassuring hug and let her go upstairs, an idea in his mind. Once she was gone, he pressed a few buttons on the kitchen phone and waited for someone to pick up.

"What," said a gruff voice. It was so strangely familiar to Elliot, so creepy that it made a chill go down his spine. But he couldn't place it.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"Who's _this_?" asked the person on the other end. Elliot didn't know it, but the voice belonged to Taylor Williamson, Dean's older brother, the one he arrested last year.

Elliot didn't know what to say. Taylor slammed down the phone.

Nothing added up. Nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

Thursday Morning-

Maureen walked to school the following morning apprehensively. She couldn't help but wonder what Dean would do next. He hadn't exactly answered her question last night when she wanted to know if there was anything else she could do to make it up to him- and he was still threatening to tell everything to Elliot. Maureen couldn't let _that_ happen. She guessed she'd find out her fate soon enough.

Maureen didn't see Dean until lunchtime. Upon spotting him in the cafeteria, she went up to him and asked her question again.

"No," said Dean. "There's nothing else you can do. Do what's on the note I gave you and maybe I wont tell your dad."

"But- but I can't do that!" Maureen stammered. She lowered her voice. "You want _me _to- to _break into _the school, in the middle of the night, just so you can have the things the teachers have confiscated off of you back?"

"Yes," he growled.

"I'll do anything for you instead!" Maureen said desperately.

Dean stared at her for what seemed like ages. Then, suddenly, he grabbed her arm and pushed her out a side door to the cafeteria, into the coral area where nobody bothered to go, as it constantly stank like rubbish.

He pushed her up against the wall. Maureen winced as her hand scraped against the brick.

"Do it or I'll kill you!" he whispered loudly.

"Dean, get off me!" Maureen cried. That seemed to just make him angrier. He pulled his fist back and got her hard in the side of her face. He kept it up, punching and punching, in her face, her stomach, her arms, until a bird called loudly above them, startling Dean. He stormed off through the door again, leaving Maureen there crying, her whole body stinging with pain.


	5. Chapter 5

Thursday Night-

"Maureen!" Kathy yelled up the stairs. "It's time for dinner!"

Maureen had no intention of leaving her bedroom. Nobody in her family had seen her after school, and she was grateful.

The bruises were already extremely visible on her face, arms, and stomach. Maureen had already covered up her torso with a long-sleeved sweatshirt. It was her face she was having trouble with. She couldn't cover the large purple mark up with makeup; she didn't own any foundation and she wasn't going to risk going into her mother's bathroom to get some.

And now she had to face her family.

Or did she?

"I'm not hungry!" Maureen called back, even though she was starving.

_Thud._

Maureen spun around. What the hell was that? Something on the floor caught her eye.

She picked it up. It was a rock with a bit of paper sticky-taped to it. Maureen scanned her bedroom and spotted an open window. Aha! She ran over to it and looked out. Nobody was in sight. She unfurled the piece of paper and read it.

_Make sure you're there._

It was obviously from Dean. But where was she supposed to go? Suddenly, she remembered. Of course! He wanted her to break into the school. That night. Maureen thought about the instructions. He would meet her at school at eleven thirty. Was he crazy or something? But Maureen felt she had to go. She had been severely beaten just for mentioning the job. Dean would kill her if she didn't go, as he had already told her.

"Maureen!" It was Elizabeth. "Mom says it's dinner time!"

"Tell her I'm not hungry!" Evidently, she had not yelled loud enough the first time.

Time slowly went by. Maureen was dreading the time when she had to leave. 7:30…the house was quietening down. 8:30…Dickie and Elizabeth were going to bed. 9:30…Kathleen was going to bed. At 10:30, her mother came in to check on her. Maureen was pretending to be asleep. At around 11:00, her parents went to bed. Maureen felt the familiar tingly feeling all over her body. She was scared out of her mind. She crept down the stairs, and was almost out the door when a voice spoke to her.

"Where the hell are you going?"

A light flicked on. It was Elliot.


	6. Chapter 6

Thursday Night-

"Oh-um…hi, Daddy," Maureen stammered. As she stepped back inside she suddenly remembered her face. She immediately covered the bruise with her hand. Fortunately for Maureen, Elliot was too far away to notice what she'd just covered, but he noticed she was hiding _something_.

He moved towards her, concerned. "Where do you think you're going?"

"N-nowhere, Dad. Umm…I was just getting a glass of water. Look, I think I'll just go on up to bed…" She was silently freaking out. She should have left five minutes ago for school. Maureen sincerely wished she could tell him she had to leave _right then_, but she couldn't! Her life was on the line, here! What would Dean do to her next?

Elliot was close to her now. Maureen felt like a small animal that had been backed into a corner by the predator.

_Think, girl, think! _Maureen needed an escape, and fast.

"Can you tell me," said Elliot gently, "why there is a large purple bruise on your face?" He moved his hand up, so it was on hers.

"Walked into…a door," Maureen answered meekly.

"When."

"Umm…yesterday."

"So that's why you didn't come down for dinner?" Elliot wrapped his hand over his daughter's more firmly.

She couldn't look into his eyes; she didn't want him to think she was lying. So she looked down at the ground, and mumbled a reply. "I didn't want my sisters and Dickie to see. They would ask too many questions."

"Come on, honey." His voice was so warm, so soft, he wasn't mad at all. Maureen looked into his eyes, and felt the tears well up in her own.

"Something's been bothering you for weeks," Elliot's voice was no more than a whisper. His hand still over hers, he bent down so he was eye-level.

"What's been going on?"

"I-I cant…I cant say!" she cried. The pressure was mounting; Dean had been waiting for ten minutes now. Her heart began to beat faster, she had to get out, she had to meet Dean, or else she was dead meat.

Maureen, desperate, tried to run past him. Elliot held her back.

"Let-me-go!" Maureen cried. "I have to meet Dean _now_!"

At the realisation of what she'd just blurted out, Maureen stopped. Elliot stopped.

_Oh no, oh no, oh no_, Maureen thought.


End file.
